5-Slot Wheel Migration?

[Casey]

Did the five-slot wheels originally included in the 1/24 Monogram Tom Daniel's Street Vette make their way over to the 1/24 Monogram '55 Chev Street Machine kit? I don't have either set in hand to compare up close, but they sure appear to be very similar, both fitting inside the big 'n' little Goodyear Rally GTs tires which have been in the Monogram lineup for ages.

As best I can tell, the California Street 'Vette was last issued in 1973:

 

The Monogram '55 Chev Street Machine, a companion to the Badman 55 Chevy kit, was first issued in 1975: 

 

The 1/24 Monogram Corvette SS Hatchback, which, to my knowledge, is what became of the California Street Vette after a few changes were made, namely the addition of E-T X-style wheels, and elimination of the 5-slots. This kit was first issued in 1976:

[Muncie]

I don't have a kit handy to confirm - I believe the front tires are narrower on the '55.  The '55 has narrow and wide tires.  The Tom Daniel Vette had medium and wide.

And here's another kit to throw in the mix - one of the Monogram t-bucket kits that was derived from the Little T also has those wheels.  The red t-bucket on the box with a trailer - wire spoke front wheels, wide rear tires, and medium tires on the trailer.

hope this help

[Mark]

Might not be the actual wheels moving from one kit to another, but the same masters used to cut tooling for several kits.  Most, if not all, of the Monogram Early Iron Series kits have similar wheels also.

[Bainford]

I think the '66 Malibu Street Rat had a variant of those wheels, too.

EDIT: Just checked, they are not the same wheel as the Vette.

Edited March 23, 2021 by Bainford

[afx]

Doesn't many kits in the Early Iron series included these same slotted mags?

 

 

 

Edited March 23, 2021 by afx

[Mark]

1 hour ago, Bainford said:

I think the '66 Malibu Street Rat had a variant of those wheels, too.

EDIT: Just checked, they are not the same wheel as the Vette.

The wheels in the Malibu are nicer than the others.  Because those Malibu kits sold so well over the years, often they turn up in built form at toy shows and club swap meets.  When they do, I'll snag one provided it isn't a total glue bomb.  Lots of good parts in those: wheels, scoops, Lakewood scatter shield, and suspension parts including a nice three-link rear end setup.  Unbuilt ones go for stupid money so you don't want to pay that and then part it out, but the built ones can be a gold mine if you can pick them up for cheap.

[Casey]

2 hours ago, Mark said:

 I'll snag one provided it isn't a total glue bomb.

I have yet to find one, good used wheel from that kit which wasn't glue damaged, but you're right in that those wheels are the best 1/24 5-slot wheels of the lot (and of all, IMHO), and they are distinct from the other 1/24 Monogram 5-sot wheels which fit the Goodyear GT Radials. I think the '55 Chev Street Machine and Blue Bandito are the only two kits which sill include the 5-slots being discussed, though. They disappeared ling ago from the '36 and '34 Ford kits. 

The funny thing is, they're actually 16" wheels in 1/24 scale, which I always chalked up to the "make it 10% larger" design idea that Roger Harney(?) was credited as saying. By default, that means the tires they fit are also 16", though I don't ever recall reading many complaints about that.

[Can-Con]

Casey, this page is from the 1980 catalogue. I think it's the last time the TD Vette was available. All 4 kits with those wheels on the same page. 👍

The SS Vette was based on the TD Vette with just a different chrome tree and the tree with the hood, roof, etc swapped out. 

[Force]

The tooling for the wheels are most likely changeable inserts so you can do variations of the kits, at least for old Monogram kits as there are several variations of their kits.
The Corvette Hatchback and the California Street Vette are based on the same tooling, most are the same for both but some things are different, among them the wheels.
The 55 Chevy Street Machine are from the same tooling as the Bad Man 55 Chevy, it's the same kit with different wheels and the wheels look exactly like the wheels in the California Street Vette, and there are several more kits with these five slot wheels and tires.
Another example is the wheels from the old Son Of Ford 32 Roadster wich also are in the VW Bus customs like the Firebomb, Baja Beast and Baja Bandido, the Tijuana Taxi, the front wheels for the Bad Man Chevy and some others.